New life: History lives on for restored Highfields homestead

The local retiree has transformed the stunning abode which is almost 150 years old and once sat on a farm in Highfields.

HISTORICAL HOMESTEAD: Local retiree Barry Barwick stands inside the historical Highfields farmhouse which he has relocated to Cabarlah.

A local man has spent the last two decades giving new life to a historical farmhouse near Toowoomba.

The stunning abode is almost 150 years old and once called the Highfields home before member of Toowoomba’s Baptist community Barry Barwick and wife Joan relocated the structure to Carbarlah.

Dedicating about 25 years of hard work on transforming the five-bedroom house which was almost in a state of disrepair, the local retirees have now completed the painstaking yet worthwhile project.

“The house was falling down and it was in the middle of the property and no one knew what to do with it,” Mr Barwick said.

“It was in a very, very bad state of repairs and things were falling down everywhere.”

HISTORICAL HOMESTEAD: Barry Barwick stands outside the former Highfields farmhouse which he has restored.

Formerly owned by the pioneering Browne family, the farmhouse originally sat on a dairy farm and what is now known as the Carinity Brownesholme Senior’s community site.

The late Isobel ‘Molly’ Browne left the house which was constructed by her grandparents in the early 1870s when they first arrived in Australia, to the Baptist Union of Queensland.

Despite receiving many requests to sell the land over the years, Molly declined all offers with the hope of transforming the homestead into a retirement village and nursing home.

Molly sadly passed away in 1985 but her dream became a reality when the Brownesholme lifestyle retirement village opened a decade later in 1995.

While the Barwick couple commenced work on the 145-year-old property Molly called home for more than 80 years.

HISTORICAL HOMESTEAD: Local retiree Barry Barwick stands inside the historical Highfields farmhouse which he has relocated to Cabarlah.

But it’s not the first time the historian has spent a considerable amount of money and years on revitalising a piece of local history as the retiree also owns the original Brazier’s brickworks building.

“I’m interested in history … most people don’t care about history so I thought ‘why don’t I do something instead of waiting for somebody else to do it,’” Mr Barwick said.

“We cut the house in two, got two semi-trailers and transported it across (to Carbarlah) … we had to reinforce it all so it could be moved without falling down completely.

“Once it was moved all that remained was a chimney standing alone in the middle of a paddock and that was a great concern – I worked out how to move this 30-foot chimney.”

Sourcing more than 10 unique paint colours to match the original colour schemes, Mr Barwick sought to restore the aged homestead while maintaining its authenticity.

In fact the retiree set the house on a block of land so it faced the same way and on the same slope as it did originally in Highfields.

“I tend to have a tenacity about what I do – I’m a bit fanatical and I like to have things just the way they should be,” Mr Barwick said.

“It’s such a long-term job to restore one of these old houses if you want to get it back to its original state.”

HISTORICAL HOMESTEAD: Carinity Brownesholme manager Peter Aspin and Barry Barwick stand in front of the former Browne family of Highfields home.

Carinity Brownesholme retirement manager Peter Aspin said as a result of Mr Barwick’s efforts, the historical farmhouse looked as impressive as it did more than 100 years ago.

“Thanks to the Barwicks’ wonderful restoration of the Browne family’s former homestead, this grand old house looks the same today as it did well over a century ago,” Mr Aspin said.

“Such is Barry’s dedication, tenacity and attention to detail that he even relocated old structures such as water tanks and sheds, as well as fencing and artefacts, from the former Browne property to the new site.

“For volunteering countless hours and investing many, many dollars of their own money to keep a slice of local history alive, Barry and Joan deserve to be applauded.”

The new Carinity aged care community site will open later this year, near the existing Brownesholme retirement village.